Grace in governance

My Professor Jerry Harvey, author of Abilene Par adox and other Meditations on Management has one chapter in the book entitled: \”Captain Asoh and the concept of Grace.\” He describes the true story about a JAL 747 captain. Asoh was the pilot who successfully and accidentally landed his jumbo jet perfectly in the bay outside the Los Angeles airport, in perfect alignment with the airport but in the sea.

When the American paparazzi caught up with the pilot, and enquired what happened, he, in characteristic Japanese humility and honesty said, \”As you Americans call it, I screwed up!\” Harvey goes on to talk about what happened to Captain Asoh within the JAL bureaucracy and concludes that he was not \”fired\” but rather put in for rehabilitation and reassigned to a non-flying job. Harvey concludes that there can be such \”grace\” in organisational life.

Should there be grace in the governance of a country?

Today there is a lot of rhetoric about whether, if, and should Pak Lah carry out \”a witch-hunt\” with either the judicial system reform in the nation or even in revamp of the anti-corruption system in the country.

Nazir Tun Rajak, the youngest of the Razak brothers and CEO of CIMB even concluded his views in the newspapers with the notion that one of the reasons Hong Kong succeeded was that: at the beginning they agreed that \”amnesty was essential.\” My father, who is now 89 years old, once told me, that every millionaire in old Sungai Petani town once had a \”not so clean background.\” Of course, he also advised me consequently to stay out of both business and politics, because he had a lot of experience in both. To maintain integrity and one’s principles, according to my dad, one should stay out of both these fields that drive this nation; unfortunately, with too much greed and only self-interest. I do not fully agree though.

If there is grace in governance systems, as we all demonstrate in our daily living, even a super-efficient system can still afford \”ordinary mortal individuals working within it.\” That is why, even after their ‘domestic inquiry\” the JAL system did not find the captain \”irresponsible or held him accountable for the screw-up.\” We, like them, can call it a genuine mistake. Or, we can say, \”Forgive them for they know not what they doeth or even that they did not know any better!\”

\’Mistake and doing wrong\’

Whether it is with \”full knowledge or with ignorance\” that such an action happens, what is critical is the distinction between \”a mistake and doing a wrong.\” If an action is done, with full knowledge of wrong-doing, like they found within the Nuremburg Trials, \”Eichmann was guilty of manslaughter.\” His, \”I was only following orders argument\” was not accepted by the trial judges. The trial judges ruled that \”taking another’s life is wrong even when done under so-called conditions of duress.\” That, to me, is also what distinguishes animals from human beings. Humans have the power and the grace to say no, to any wrong doing, if we so choose. Not choosing to do right is \”the guilt of omission, although it may not always be by commission.\” That is why Adolf Eichmann was not guilty of murder but only manslaughter; killing nonetheless.

The question remains, as we form, reform and transform the nation towards an open and transparent, accountable system of governance in Malaysia, should there be a witch-hunt on all wrongdoings of the past. Should we really go out and search out every closet for what skeletons exist within? I think we can learn from JAL and Captain Asoh. If in fact, as he admitted, he screwed up, there must be room for grace and forgiveness. Witch-hunts once started never end! I think, the modern story of how Israel was formed, is very telling, as the witch-hunt has not yet ended, on either side.

Pak Lah, with his simple and good natured relational demeanor may be the most qualified prime minister of Malaysia; to build on the foundations of national unity, spread development and reduce poverty into the far corners of Malaysia, improve on the standards of justice, and still deliver us towards the Vision 2020 of a developed and modern Malaysia in our own mould. He is most qualified to take us to the next step of development which we have called the evolution of a values-based knowledge society. The former prime ministers (with skeletons in almost every cupboard) have taken the nation this far. To my mind, for now, only Pak Lah, under current conditions of a potential two-party system is qualified to deliver this next step of progress for Malaysia. But, the conditionality is that he cannot be merely the President of Umno but must rise up in the next five years to become the true prime minister of all Malaysians and revamp BN. Then he can and will leave a positive legacy.

Team of leaders

This journey to success requires deliberate leadership of the disempowered BN chairman to take charge of charting a genuine partnership of real equals. As I have written before, it requires new leadership models of servant hood-kind and not the old leadership model of the Captain of an ocean-going vessel. It is leadership of the whitewater rafting kind wherein one does rely on any \”one super-hero boss\” but really on a team of leaders in each field of representative specialisation in knowledge and relationships. This team makes all decisions by consensus based on knowledge and information, never on power and authority of the post. In fact, it was this role of the \”’first amongst equals’ principle\” which was denied by even Pak Lah when he turned down the memorandum of the 10 non-Muslim ministers at the Cabinet level.

The people noticed and voted against Pak Lah for what he did not do, and less so for what he did wrong. His so-called wrong doings by way of \”his family related businesses\” are really an Umno problem related to \”different rent-seeking models within Umno\” and less to do with ordinary Malaysians.

Therefore, I support the proposal by Nazir Razak that while we seek to reform and transform our systems and institutions of governance that we must also seek to reflect grace in all our efforts. After all what does it mean, theologically, if we say that God is gracious but we have no capacity whatsoever to reflect that grace in ordinary life? May we then reflect grace in all that we do; which we are now beginning to reflect in the political arena. Four are worthy of mention. It is grace that Lee Kah Choon is offered a post in the new government of Penang, and even more so that he accepted it. It is also grace that Tok Guru Nik Aziz says he supports the modern pig-farming project in Selangor.

It is grace that allows Hishammuddin Hussein to apologise for the keris-waving. And it is grace for Malaysiakini to apologise for inaccurate reporting on the Khairy Jamaulddin election victory. These actions and statements put to rest poor and bad theology often practiced by those who do not know any better; based on ignorance which pretends to be knowledge or simply bad information. May the Grace of God be sufficient for the new governance of Malaysia which has now begun and must continue! May God continue to bless Malaysia!